Out of the hundreds of samples we tasted, these are some of the favorite foods my friends and I found at the 35th Winter Fancy Food Show.
Cold Beverage
Let’s start with cocktails. Some of you may remember when I wrote about Sence Rose Nectar in its gorgeous bottle last year.
This year, mixologist Sean Bigley combined the Sence European Rose Nectar with Hendricks Gin to create a delicious, refreshing, aromatic cocktail. Hendricks Gin is especially well-suited to be paired with Sence because it infuses Bulgarian rose petals during the distillation process. With the elegant bottles and the clear pink color, this would be a beautiful cocktail to serve for a wedding or bridal shower and it would be great prior to a Moroccan or Turkish meal.
Fever-Tree offers a premium line of mixers. My favorite was the Ginger Ale, made with three kinds of ginger.
I would like a gin and tonic made with Fever-Tree tonic water and topped with the super-fancy cocktail garnish, the Tipsy Cocktail Stirrer, by Sable & Rosenfeld.
Appetizers
As I’m sipping my gin cocktail, it would sure be nice to have an amuse bouche served in one of these fancy cones. I’m so glad Linda pointed them out to me.
Hafner offers an impressive array of baked pastry shells to meet any savory or sweet need. The cones I tasted were delicious, delicately crunchy, and their neutral flavor yields to the flavors of the contents.
Tracy and I both thought the Crisp Made Entirely of Cheese was downright addictive. Amazingly, this super-crispy, intensely-flavored cracker qualifies as a Diet and Lifestyle Product, winning gold in the category.
I thought the fava bean hummus by Fava was absolutely delicious:
Dairy
My favorite cheese of the day was the goat cheese by the Rogers Collection. Its creamy texture melted in the mouth like a dream and the rich flavor was heavenly. Stephanie remarked: “I don’t like goat cheese much but I like this.”
John Cancilla, of Rogers Collection, immediately replied, “I love goat cheese and this is my favorite”. Mine too.
Cypress Grove Chevre, of Brie Wedding Cake fame, won the gold Sofi for another goat cheese, Truffle Tremor. I'm sure it was great, I love their Humbodt Fog, but my mushroom allergy prevents me from tasting it.
Marin-County-based Cowgirl Creamery is reliably delicious, their signature cheese, Mt. Tam is my favorite.
My palate is getting fatigued, I will take a break and continue with our favorites next time.